Roland Burris
Roland Wallace Burris (born August 3, 1937) is an American retired Democratic politician and attorney who served as Attorney General of Illinois from 1991 to 1995. In January 2009, he was appointed a United States Senator, succeeding Barack Obama, who resigned to become president of the United States. Burris held this position until November 2010, retiring from front-line politics shortly after.
Roland Burris | |
|---|---|
Official Senate portrait | |
| United States Senator from Illinois | |
| In office January 12, 2009 – November 29, 2010 | |
| Appointed by | Rod Blagojevich |
| Preceded by | Barack Obama |
| Succeeded by | Mark Kirk |
| 39th Attorney General of Illinois | |
| In office January 14, 1991 – January 9, 1995 | |
| Governor | Jim Edgar |
| Preceded by | Neil Hartigan |
| Succeeded by | Jim Ryan |
| 3rd Comptroller of Illinois | |
| In office January 8, 1979 – January 14, 1991 | |
| Governor | James R. Thompson |
| Preceded by | Michael Bakalis |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Clark Netsch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Roland Wallace Burris August 3, 1937 Centralia, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Berlean Miller |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (BA) Howard University (JD) |
In 1978, Burris was the first African American elected to statewide office in Illinois, when he was elected Illinois Comptroller. He served in that office until his election as Illinois Attorney General in 1990. Since then, he has unsuccessfully run for office four more times.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois. The appointment was controversial, as the governor was already under investigation and there were rumors of his being paid for the appointment. Burris succeeded Obama as the U.S. Senate's only African American member. He was briefly a candidate for election to a full term but withdrew before the Democratic primaries in the 2010 elections.